RVA Beer Explorer
RVA Beer Explorer Weekly Picks
A look at what’s happening in the Richmond World of Beer or at least the events we think you shouldn’t miss.

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September Bottle Share – The Hop and Cannon & Draw, Thursday
Bottle Shares are a great chance to find a new favorite beer or sing the praises of your favorite underappreciated beer.
The Hop Craft Pizza & Beer is having our first Monthly Bottle Share in partnership with Canon & Draw Brewing Company! We’l be having these bottle shares on the last THURSDAY of EVERY month!
Following the bottle share we’ll all walk over to Canon & Draw for a nightcap round and discuss some of our favorite beers from the share.
Bring your fresh, cellared, interesting, intriguing, old time favorite, current favorite, any craft beer to share!
Limited tasting glassware will be available for purchase for $4 at the bottle share.
3rd Annual Battle of the Brews! – Westchester Commons Sedona Taphouse, Saturday
The only good time to head to the mall is when there is a bunch of beer to drink.
It’s back and BIGGER than ever…Join us for our 3rd Annual Battle of the Brews at Westchester Commons on Saturday, September 29th!
Entry is FREE — pay to drink and eat!
Help us decide which brewery will receive a dedicated tap for the next 6 months! We are featuring beers from your favorite brewing companies:
Ardent Craft Ales
Center of the Universe Brewing
Devils Backbone Brewing Company
Hardywood Park Craft Brewery
Kindred Spirit Brewing
O’Connor Brewing Co.
Steam Bell Beer Works
Stone Brewing
STRANGEWAYS BREWING
Triple Crossing BeerFeaturing LIVE MUSIC by SpudCracker and The Mad Children!
Oyster Roast – Veil Brewing Co., Saturday
As the name implies there will be plenty of oysters but there will also be food for those of us that are mollusk wary.
The Veil Brewing Co presents…. Oyster Roast 🌊
Saturday, September 29th from 12-8pm we will have Ruby Salts Oyster Company and LOWCO Eatery bringing you delicious oysters! 🤤Raw Oysters shucked by Ruby Salts Oysters with Fried and Smoked Ruby Salts Oysters done by LOWCO Eatery.
Ruby Salts are raised in Cherrystone Creek on the lower Eastern Shore, where the Chesapeake meets the Atlantic.
All shells will be recycled by @vaoystershell
We will also be celebrating the release of Unloved, our apple brandy aged imperial oyster stout that is sure to rock yo taste budsss 👅 We will see you there muh dudes 🤙
2018 Miss Pinup RVA Competition – Hardywood (Ownby Lane), Sunday
This is not your typical beauty contest. The panel of qualified pinup culture experts will be looking for poise, presentation, positivity, retro-pinup aesthetic, and charisma. Also this event is open to all genders.
Calling all Pinups! Hardywood Park Craft Brewery and Boom Boom Basics Burlesque & Performing Arts Studio are teaming up to present the 2018 Miss Pinup RVA competition! The 3rd annual event is FREE to attend and features a full day of festivities & fun for the whole family!
Come on out Sunday, September 30th to enjoy a local vendor market, an antique car show presented by River City Bombshells, food trucks, kids fashion show, LIVE music from Weeping Molly and DJ Sean Lovelace, and of course…witness all of the 2018 contestants compete to win the title of “Miss Pinup RVA 2018!”
This year all non-operational proceeds of the day’s raffle sales, beer sales, competition, vendor and car show registrations will be donated to Safe Harbor RVA!
Enjoy a beer while you support a great cause, body positive pinup artists, and local businesses!
DRINK THIS
Scream Forest Blood Orange IPA – Three Notch’d Collab House, Thursday
Join us this Thursday for our new beer release with pint specials until 7pm. This is our second year collaborating with Three Notch’d and we are very excited about this year’s brew, a blood orange IPA. We’ll have lots of giveaways, characters and a few surprises. All are welcome!
Scream Forest Blood Orange IPA
ABV: 6.9
IBU: 40
Collaboration with Creepy Hollow Scream ParkBrewed in collaboration with Creepy Hollow Scream Park, “Scream Forest” is bursting with blood orange flavor. We dry hopped with Mosaic hops to serve as a nice base for the blood orange added right beforekegging for the freshest taste. This IPA is bloody delicious.
Nightlands Release – Triple Crossing (Foushee Street), Friday
Nightlands 10% Imperial Stout w/Coffee and Chocolate
Our Nightlands Imperial Stout conditioned on single source Columbian Coffee from Ironclad Coffee Roasters and a healthy addition of cacao nibs. We notice bright fresh roasted whole bean coffee with a deep undercurrent of dark cocoa. This will be available on draft and crowlers (no limit). Below is more information about the coffee and the farmer Adolofo.
Lodestar Double IPA Release – Final Gravity, Friday
Let Final Gravity’s newest release, Lodestar Double IPA, guide you to flavors of citrus, peach, and lemon from the abundance of Galaxy and Mosaic hops. If after a hard week you feel you’ve lost your way, know there is a beacon of golden light shining from a beer glass right here to keep you on course.
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RVA Beer Explorer
RVA Beer Explorer: Stouts, Pizza, FeedMore, and a Moving Shamrock

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Stout Month at Starr Hill Richmond Beer
I’m late to the stout party here but there is still a week left to get your stout at Starr Hill
Love is in the air – AND on tap! 💘 Starr Hill is sharing the love all month long with the perfect pair: beer + chocolate 🍫 Enjoy our Stout Month flight with a special box of chocolate candy—buy one, get one flight HALF OFF only on Tues. Feb. 14th for Valentine’s Day!
❤️❤️❤️ FEATURED BEERS
❤️ Why Wait Snickers Stout
❤️ Ever Given Foreign Export Stout
❤️ You Oatta Know Oatmeal Stout
❤️ Chonkyfire Cherry Cordial Stout
🍫 Stout Month Flight 🍫
feat. each of the above beers paired with a special chocolate:
🍫 Oatmeal Stout with a maple buttercream
🍫 Foreign Export Stout with a coffee caramel
🍫 Snickers Stout with a peanut cluster
🍫 Cherry Cordial Stout with a chocolate-covered cherry
Ownby Lane Beer Crawl for Feedmore! at Castleburg and Hardywood
February 26th
Two breweries does not a crawl make but it’s for a great case so I’m posting about it. Get some beers and help out some folks.
Don’t have Sunday plans? Not sure what to do after brunch?
Come on over to Hardywood and Castleburg for a beer! Just a five minute walk apart, we’ll both be serving snacks and beer hopefully with weather good enough to hang outside!
We’ll be donating 10% of the day to FeedMore

Pizza Palace – Triple Crossing Downtown
February 26th
Talking with some of the folk that work here and they say it should be awesome. A great way to deal with a Sunday.
And the best pizza around is back. Welcome to Pizza Palace!!
On Sunday, February 26th, Triple Crossing – Downtown will be re-imagined as your go to by the Slice NY Style pizza palace.
Menu is as follows.
$4 House Salad
$4 Garlic Knots
$5 Cheese Slice
$6 Pepperoni Slice
-add Hot Honey for $1
48oz Pitchers:
$15 Falcon Smash
$12 Pathway Pils
Pizza Palace will be open from 12p – 8p.
All are welcomed.
Cheers!
BEER NEWS
Shamrock the Block is on the move. I avoid this festival but for those that enjoy you’ll be enjoying in a new spot over on Leigh Street between Movie Land and the Bon Secours Training facility. They’ve also announced the bands.
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RVA Beer Explorer
PHOTOS & GAME SUMMARY: Rams Knockdown Fordham
VCU forced 22 turnovers and outscored Fordham 29-15 off miscues. The Black and Gold also owned a 42-20 scoring advantage in the paint.

Official VCU Game Summary
Score: VCU 80, Fordham 61
Location: Richmond, Va. (Stuart C. Siegel Center)
Records: VCU 20-7 (11-3 Atlantic 10), Fordham 21-6 (9-5)
Attendance: 7,637 (Fourth consecutive sellout)
The short story: Sophomore Nick Kern Jr. poured in a career-high 17 points and VCU forced 22 Fordham turnovers on the way to a Senior Day victory Saturday at the Siegel Center.
OPENING TIP
- Kern scored eight of VCU’s first 11 points and finished 8-of-9 from the field
- Junior guard Ace Baldwin Jr. scored 13 points and dished out 10 assists to record his second career double-double. He also grabbed six steals and four rebounds
- Sophomore forward Jalen Deloach and redshirt sophomore guard Jamir Watkins added 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Black and Gold
- Will Richardson supplied Fordham with 21 points on 6-of-10 shootin from three
THE DIFFERENCE
- VCU forced 22 turnovers and outscored Fordham 29-15 off miscues. The Black and Gold also owned a 42-20 scoring advantage in the paint
- VCU shot 51 percent (26-of-51) from the floor. Meanwhile, it also limited Fordham to 34 percent shooting (20-of-59) in the game
- Kern keyed a 13-4 VCU run to start the game with a fast break layup and a dunk on the first two possessions of the contest
- VCU held Fordham to 7-of-23 shooting in the first half on the way to a 37-24 halftime lead. Fordham never led and the lone tie came at 20-20 with 7:07 left in the first half. VCU would lead by as many as 24
- VCU’s bench contributed 28 points
NOTABLE
- With six steals today and 170 in his career, Baldwin Jr. tied Doug Brooks for eighth all-time in VCU’s history Saturday
- Baldwin’s 10 assists tied a career-high. It’s the third time he’s recorded double-digit assists in his career and the first time this season
UP NEXT
The Rams hit the road for a matchup against Saint Joseph’s in Philadelphia, Pa. on Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. That game will be streamed on ESPN+.
Community
RVA Beer Explorer: Queens of Pain and Three VD Markets
We took a little break but we’re back, cheers my fellow beer heads.

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Starr Hill Spirit Night Queens of Pain at Starr Hill
February, 8th
Roller derby is cool and drinking beer while supporting local roller derby is the coolest.
Starr Hill and River City Roller Derby present…. QUEENS OF PAIN.
Join RCRD for an evening at Starr Hill Richmond Beer Hall & Rooftop. $1 from every pint sold between 4pm and 9pm will be donated to the league. Non-alcoholic beverages are available for our sober friends and supporters.
7pm we will showing the documentary Queens of Pain on Starr Hill’s big ole projector.
Since this event is leading up to Valentine’s Day, we will have an opportunity for electronic donations in exchange for a Valentine from your friendly neighborhood derby team
Buzzzzz Market at 2004 Dabney Rd
February, 11th
The event will be showing off local makers of the craft and beer/mead variety. The first description is from Capsoul Collective and obviously focused on the beers they’ll be slinging. The second is from the official event page, linked above.
Pull up with Capsoul THIS Saturday, 2/11, for the re-up only we could provide. We’ll be at the Buzzz Market with @blackheathmeadery from 12p – 5p serving up two new releases.
Imprint 🗿
Dry hopped with a heavy dose of El Dorado, Cashmere and Exp 158, Imprint, our Double IPA boasts impressions of soft stone fruit with a finishing indentation of intense citrus and dank pineapple. The nose is like diced pineapples 👌
Night is Dark 🌌
Drinking as easy as, well, the Night is Dark, this 5.5% dark lager gives impressions of lightly roasted coffee beans with a beautiful milk sweetness, all of this is rounded out by notes of bitter, dark chocolate. Night is Dark finishes very light.
📍Buzzzz Market/ 2004 Dabney Rd
Crafts
Inaugural RVA focused crafters market. Let’s promote our wares in a chill space, with mead for sale during the event.
Vendors include:
Boho Bota – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100080906312310
Capsoul Collective
Colin Plouffe – https://instagram.com/plouffe.rva.art
Davideatin – https://www.davideatin.com
Diego Cusano – https://www.facebook.com/theamatista
Down By The Creek LLC – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100071838500984
Jayne Heffner – crochet
Jenny Jones – Resting Bear Holistic Solutions
Natasha Crawford – Healing Hope Urban Gardens
Nick Vaughan – https://www.facebook.com/Erraticsmith
Rayna Liddell (Wyld Faebles) – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086255299702
Thomas Glazier – https://www.instagram.com/glazedanddyed/
TJ Krivanec – Woodworking, Furniture, Glass
Tre Artz – https://www.facebook.com/tre.artz

Valentines Weekend Brunch & Market at Triple Crossing (Midlothian)
February, 11th
We don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day in this house but we do drink beer and eat so we’re down with this event.
On February 11th, 2023, Triple Crossing Midlothian will host another outdoor market, weather permitting, as well as a special Brunch menu.
The market will be from 12p to 4p, with Brunch being served from 11a to 3p.Brunch Menu ⬇️
Sun dried Tomato Frittata with spinach & feta plated with a wild berry parfait, hashbrowns and a biscuit.
Maple Sausage Frittata with cheddar cheese plated with your choice of bacon or sausage, hashbrowns, and a biscuit.
Avocado Toast with everything bagel seasoning & sprouts
Brunch Pizza, egg based, topped with sausage, bacon, caramelized onions and spinach.
Biscuits and Sausage Gravy
Cinnamon Rolls
Cheer

Valentine’s Day Market at Veil (Forest Hill Ave)
February, 11th
Love and beer are in the air south of the river.
Ooh la la Veil-entines Day is approaching y’all, come out to our Valentine’s Day market February 11th from 12-4pm in Forest Hill.💓
💋 Mimosas will be served, @ytumama.mx will be firing up some 🌮 and the beer will be juicy!😘
💖Shop with these sweet vendors:💞
@nodicevintagerva
@Mon.der_official
@Thecuriofairy
@Fairyhausrva
@Daheim.goods
@_fivesistersboutique_
@sillycowgirlvintage
@shh_secretflowers
@teresa__justis
@candleobject
@kitcolorshow_
@moody___cc
@shannon_studio
@richmondspca
See ya there! 😍

BEER NEWS
It’s nice to get the background on one of the local brew master powerhouses and the creation of Gingerbread Stout
FROM VIRGINIA TECH HOMEBREW TO HARDYWOOD: A CHAT WITH BREWMASTER BRIAN NELSON – RVA Mag
In 2011, I created the RVA IPA using local hops and that recipe went into our Farmhouse Pumpkin beer, which is still a staple today. We then moved on to our base single and experimented with batches that incorporated cocoa, coffee, and vanilla. Suddenly, Bill Cox from Castleman Farms came in with a big bunch of ginger and asked if we could do anything with it. He was trying to find restaurants in Richmond that could use it. This ginger had big green stalks that were four feet tall, and the root has “hands” that were in the ground. It was baby ginger, meaning the translucent flesh was edible without peeling the outer skin. So he presented this to us and we were grinding our gears when Eric McKay came up with this idea, how do we integrate gingerbread? There wasn’t a gingerbread stout out there in the market — it had never been done before and we still consider our gingerbread stout, the original gingerbread stout.
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